Tokyo

Famous Citizens

Yukio Mishima (1925–78), born Hiraoka Kimitake, one of Japan's outstanding twentieth-century novelists.

Ernest F. Fenollosa (1853–1908), American Orientalist and lecturer at Tokyo University, one of the founders of the Tokyo Fine Arts School in 1887.

Junichiro Tanizaki (1886–1965), leading figure in twentieth-century Japanese letters.

Soseki Natsume (1867–1916), born Kinnosuke Natsume, the preeminent novelist of the Meiji era.

Edwin O. Reischauer (1910–90), American historian and Orientalist, born in Tokyo, served in military intelligence during World War II, and authored several important books aimed at increasing understanding of Japan in the United States.

Shigeru Yoshida (1878–1967), prime minister of Japan during the country's post-Occupation transition to democratic self-rule.

Shinichiro Tomonaga (1906–79), physicist at what is now the Tokyo University of Education, won the Nobel prize for physics for research in quantum electrodynamics.

Akio Morita (1921–99), world-renowned innovator in the electronics industry who founded the Sony Corporation and designed the hugely successful Walkman.

Akira Kurosawa (1910–98), one of the world's greatest film directors.

Sadaharu Oh (b. 1940), one of Japan's most outstanding baseball players, played for the Tokyo Giants.

Issey Miyake (b. 1938), leading figure in Japanese and international fashion design, studied at Tama Art University in Tokyo and set up his studio there in 1971.